Welcome to the Early Learning Lab at the University of North Carolina’s School of Education!

WHO WE ARE

The Early Learning Lab is directed by Dr. Kathryn Leech, an Assistant Professor in UNC’s School of Education. The lab consists of doctoral students, undergraduate research assistants, and post-bacc researchers.

WHAT WE DO

Our work draws from the human development, psychology, and education fields to investigate connections between families, children’s development, and future educational achievement. Our specific projects involve studying the social interactions between children and adults, focusing on how parent-child conversations support children’s language and literacy skills prior to school entry. 

WHY IT MATTERS

Children’s language skills are a strong predictor of future achievement, so understanding how these skills develop in the first place is of critical importance. Our work focuses on parents — often children’s first teacher — to understand how they support learning and development during early childhood.

JOIN US

If you are a prospective student, we welcome you to explore our website and learn more about our work. Please visit our Prospective Students page for ways to get involved in the lab.